by Wood, J N
‘That’s a bit hypocritical,’ I suggested. ‘Isn’t it?’
He shrugged, saying, ‘Crazy is as crazy does.’
Staring at the shapes I thought were Michael and Shannon, I asked, ‘Could you take care of these bodies please? My friends are among them.’
He looked offended. ‘Don’t worry. We know how to respect the dead.’
‘Yeah sorry, I’m sure you do.’ I walked over to where Michael and Shannon were laid out and crouched down behind them. ‘I realise this may be difficult, but if you could try your hardest to keep these two together, I’d be very grateful.’
He nodded. ‘Yeah sure, we’ll try our best.’
I thanked the man and left him to his waiting. I walked along the partly constructed fence, trying to stop my mind from wandering. I kept imagining the guys haphazardly throwing the bodies into the cart, like the body collectors during the bubonic plague times.
I’m sure they won’t do that.
I walked past medical tents one, two and three. The Fencers would have to wait for the temporary hospitals to be dismantled before making the new inner fence one solid piece.
I stood outside tent number four, nervous about going in for some reason. I entered and headed towards Ali’s bed. She was fast asleep. I’d forgotten it was still early, so I sat in the seat by her bed, and waited for her to wake up.
‘Chris. Hi Christopher. Hey, Chris.’
I opened my eyes, taking a moment to remember where I was. People were hurrying past me, carrying medical equipment. I looked to my right to see Ali’s scratch covered face. She was sat up in bed, smiling down at me.
‘Hi Chris. Good sleep?’ she asked.
I stood up and stepped closer to the side of her bed. ‘Morning. Sorry, must have nodded off. How long have you been awake?’
‘Only a few seconds. How you doing?’
‘I’m fine. More importantly, how are you?’
‘I’m okay. They said I have to be out in a few hours. They’re packing up,’ she said, gesturing to the mayhem going on around us. ‘Sandra is coming back to get me.’
‘How’s the face?’ I asked. ‘Looks a bit sore. Sorry, but I had to drag you through a load of zombies.’
‘I’m trying to beat you and Jack in the fucked up face awards.’
I laughed, saying, ‘Nah, you’ve got a while to go before you catch us two up.’ I pointed at my own face. ‘Especially now.’
‘Yeah, your face also looks like it’s painful. I imagine that happened getting me out?’
‘No, not all of it,’ I replied.
‘I’m sorry you got hurt helping me.’
‘I did most of this on my own. The only people who should be getting any blame are Amber and the rest of the bosses. Fucking idiots. Oh, Amber died by the way.’
I maybe said that last bit with a bit too much satisfaction.
My hands were resting on the bed. She placed one of hers on top of mine. ‘Pete told me about Gee, I’m really sorry.’ She gave my hand a brief squeeze. ‘Last night he also said you were still looking for Michael and Shannon. They were right next to me as we walked up to the outer fence, but when the zombies came at us, I got all turned around. I didn’t know where anyone or anything was.’
‘They’re both dead.’
She gasped and brought both her hands to her mouth.
‘We were told they were injured quite early on, and brought back into the camp,’ I told her. ‘We found their bodies with the rest of the Green Team’s dead. The guys that brought them back are also dead, so we don’t really know what happened.’
‘They were right next to me,’ she said through her fingers.
‘There’s gonna be a cremation for everyone that died, the shooting victims as well. It’s today at twelve.’
‘I have to be there,’ she said, her hands dropping back to the bed. ‘Sandra is picking me up at eleven. I’ll be there.’ She suddenly had a determined look on her face.
‘Okay,’ I said.
‘They were so nice, a lovely couple. You could tell they loved each other just from looking at them.’ A single tear ran down her face.
I stayed silent, not really knowing what to say, and worried I might cry.
‘Chris?’
I’d been watching the large canvas tent being dismantled around us. ‘Yep,’ I answered.
‘When are we getting out of this place?’
I looked back to see her looking even more determined. ‘As soon as you’re well enough,’ I answered.
‘Tomorrow, I’ll be ready tomorrow.’
‘What about Sandra and the kids?’ I asked.
‘She said they can’t stay here. It’s not safe. Pete and Theo are coming too.’
I nodded. ‘Okay. Whenever you’re ready.’
‘Thank you for coming for me yesterday Chris. It really does mean a lot, it means everything.’
I shrugged my shoulders. ‘What are mates for? You rescued me from the gun shop basement.’
She smiled back at me. ‘Go and get some breakfast. You must be starving after yesterday. They’ve been force feeding me in here. Make sure Sandra is on time, earlier if possible.’
‘Will do,’ I said. ‘See you soon.’
The two guys were loading the bodies into the cart when I passed by them again. Thankfully, they were being very careful and gentle.
I honestly didn’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t been.
Back at the house, everyone was up and just about to head out for breakfast. Beth hugged me, saying how sorry she was. Pete shook my hand again, saying thank you, again. I also got an awkward hug from Theo, while thanking me for helping Ali.
I told all of them about the cremation as we walked to breakfast.
‘Will it be a big funeral pyre?’ Roy asked me. ‘Like a Viking funeral?’
‘No idea, didn’t ask,’ I replied. ‘We’ll find out when we get there.’
‘I suppose there’s nowhere inside the camp to bury that many people,’ Sandra pondered.
‘Who is organising it all?’ Beth asked. ‘Is there an overall boss that runs everything? Or has someone just taken it upon themselves to do it?’
‘I thought you and Roy might have known the answer to that,’ Sandra said. ‘You’ve been here longer.’
‘No, we don’t know,’ Roy said.
‘I don’t think anyone knows the answers to those questions,’ Jack said. ‘This place is a mess.’
I nudged Jack and nodded behind me. I slowed and he got the idea, falling into step alongside me. ‘Ali and Sandra have said they want to leave here, as soon as possible.’
‘Good,’ Jack said. ‘Because so does Beth.’
I smiled as relief flowed through me. I’d desperately not wanted to leave them behind.
‘That’s fucking brilliant news,’ I said. ‘Ali said she’ll be ready to go tomorrow.’
‘I want to get out of here now Chris, two days ago if it were possible, but is that not a bit soon for her?’
‘She said she’ll be ready, and I believe her.’
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘It’s really hard to imagine doing anything without Gee, Shannon and Michael. If it hadn’t been for them, I definitely wouldn’t be here.’
‘Yeah I know.’ I put my hands in my pockets. There was something in one of them. I pulled out Shannon’s blood stained baseball cap. I’d forgotten all about it. I think I’d been in a bit of a daze as I walked along the line of bodies.
Jack was looking at the cap in my hand.
‘I couldn’t get it to stay on Shannon’s head,’ I explained. ‘It kept falling off, so Roy suggested I take it off her. I forgot I put it in my pocket.’ I offered it to him. ‘Here, you keep it.’
He took it from me. ‘Won’t fit my big head,’ he very quietly said.
‘Keep it anyway, something to remember her by.’
He gently folded it in half, and put it in his pocket.
‘Yesterday,’ I said. ‘Roy really helped me out. He came wi
th me to find you lot, outside the fence. And then after, he helped me find Michael and Shannon.’
‘Yeah I know,’ he said. ‘We talked last night. It’s fine.’
‘What did you talk about?’
‘Just shit. Don’t worry. It’s fine.’
‘I’m assuming Roy will come with us?’ I asked him.
Jack shrugged. ‘Guess so.’
The porridge was terrible, again.
‘I’m gonna go to Pea’s Place after breakfast,’ I mentioned to Jack. ‘I want to speak to Charles about getting out of here.’
‘Why him?’ Jack asked.
‘He can sail boats.’
‘Are you hoping he’s going to travel all the way across Canada, and then sail you to England?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Beth said, stepping closer to us. ‘By the way, we’ve discussed it with Roy. He’s coming with us.’
‘Yes,’ Roy agreed, appearing at her shoulder. ‘I’m in, to get out.’
‘Good,’ I said. ‘Anybody fancy coming with me to the pub? It’s on the way to the harbour.’
Jack looked at Beth, she nodded.
‘We might as well,’ Jack said. ‘There is nothing better to do.’
‘Yes I’ll come with you,’ Roy said. ‘As of now, I’ve quit my job, since we’re leaving.’
Pete and Theo started packing up the three boys’ things, as Sandra stepped towards us. ‘We’re going to pick Ali up and take her back to the house for a while,’ she said. ‘Then Pete and Theo will take Ali to meet you down by the harbour.’
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Meet outside Pea’s Place? Ali knows where it is.’
Sandra agreed, and the Rodriguez’s slowly left the busy food tent.
‘Are you working this evening?’ Jack asked Beth.
She swallowed her last mouthful of porridge and nodded.
‘Why not quit?’ he asked her. ‘Like Roy.’
‘Because we’re still eating their food,’ she said, shaking her spoon in front of his face. ‘I’m still going to do my bit.’
We left the food tent and walked around the edge of the camp, so the other three could take a look at the fence being built. Medical tents one and two were gone, and the scaffolding frame of the fence was almost complete in the spaces that had been left. Number three was almost down. I expected Ali’s bed to be outside by the time we walked past the fourth medical tent. Luckily for her, the roof had still been up.
We had a quick look for her inside, but she must have already been picked up by Sandra.
There was a very sombre mood inside the pub. I thought it’d been quiet on my first visit. Nobody had been on the door, so we walked straight in. Charles and Andruis were sat at the bar, in the same place Gee, Ali and I had sat. Charles spun around after hearing the door close behind us, and waved us over.
‘How’s Matis doing?’ I asked Andruis.
‘He’s back with his family. Doing well thank you.’
I introduced everyone, forgetting that Jack had already met Andruis the night before.
‘I must tell you all I was very sorry to hear about Gintaras,’ Charles said. ‘Andruis told me all about it. I owe him my gratitude for what he did for Matis. Can I get you a drink?’ He called one of the bar staff over. It was a guy this morning.
‘I’ll have a gin and tonic please,’ Beth said.
Jack and I stared at her. I quickly looked away when I remembered I wasn’t supposed to know about the pregnancy.
‘What?’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s been a stressful few days.’
Jack leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Beth’s eyes widened briefly.
She smiled to the barman apologetically, and said, ‘Just a water please.’
‘What time is it?’ I asked.
Jack checked his watch. ‘Half ten.’
‘Fuck it then, it’s not that early. And I’m going to a funeral today,’ I said. ‘Whiskey and coke please. Not bothered what the whiskey is.’
Jack and Roy both ordered a beer.
‘I take it you heard about the sheriff?’ Charles asked us. ‘Dreadful news.’
The four of us exchanged confused glances.
‘Nope, what happened?’ I asked him.
‘Shot himself in the early hours of this morning. Seems he woke up on top of his office, and blew his brains out.’
‘Fuck,’ I whispered.
‘Didn’t anybody try to rescue him?’ Jack asked.
‘I believe there was talk of it,’ Charles said. ‘But he didn’t give them the chance. Let’s hope whoever he was waiting for doesn’t turn up now.’
Our drinks were placed on the bar in front of us.
I raised my glass towards Charles and Andruis. ‘Thanks for the drink, and I hope Matis makes a full recovery.’
Charles raised his glass. ‘Yes cheers. Let’s hope we don’t have too many days like yesterday.’
I took a sip of my drink. ‘Speaking of yesterday. It confirmed it for all of us. We’re getting out of here. What are you doing?’
Charles looked to Andruis, and gave him a knowing smile, before turning his attention back to me. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Do you want to leave the camp?’ I asked him.
‘No.’
‘No?’ I repeated.
‘That is correct. No. The answer is no. I do not want to leave the camp.’
‘Surely you know this place isn’t going to last much longer?’ Jack reasoned.
‘Certainly. But while it’s still here, I’m going to stay. I’ll leave when the time is right. I don’t want to go outside and live with the things that want to eat me. I’m old fashioned like that.’
‘Shite,’ I muttered. ‘I was really hoping you’d want to leave after what happened yesterday. Maybe even pop over to England.’
Charles laughed. ‘Because I can sail a yacht?’
I pointed towards him, saying, ‘Bingo,’ and then took a large mouthful of my drink.
‘I would be more than happy to take you further down the coast, and drop you off somewhere safe. But no, I’m not going to try and permanently get out of the camp just yet, and certainly not try and sail across the Atlantic. I would kill us both if I tried. Anyway, I hear Canada is lovely, lots of open spaces.’
I looked to the others and shrugged, before turning back to Charles. ‘We’ll definitely take you up on that offer.’
‘It would be my way of saying thank you to Gintaras. Talking of which.’ He looked to his large Lithuanian friend. ‘Andruis?’
Andruis had been staring at the shelves behind the bar, he turned back to us. ‘Yes, we are having a few drinks this evening, a kind of a wake. You are all more than welcome. The drinks are on Pea.’ He clapped a heavy hand on Charles’s shoulder, nearly knocking him off his seat.
Charles quickly readjusted himself on his bar stool. ‘Yes, more than welcome,’ he said with a smile.
We finished our drinks and waited outside for Ali, Pete and Theo to turn up. A few minutes later they appeared from around the bend. Ali walked slowly, with the aid of Pete on her left, and a walking stick in her right hand. Theo was a couple of paces behind.
Jack shot me a worried glance on seeing the state Ali was in. ‘That doesn’t look good Chris. Maybe we should get Gee to carry…’ He trailed off, realising his mistake. ‘Fucking hell.’
‘She’ll be fine. We won’t be leaving until tomorrow evening.’
She does look in a bad way. I really hope she’s a lot more mobile by tomorrow.
‘I’m fine, just feeling a bit weak at the moment,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘I’ll be good, no need to worry about me.’
She must have noticed our concerned looks.
Chapter 21: Not A Night
Roy had been correct. They had indeed built a funeral pyre, or four of them to be exact. They were close to the waters edge. A lot of people were in attendance, thousands maybe, so we were quite far from the front. I was more than happy to stay as far away
as possible from the soon to be burning bodies.
Roy patted me on the shoulder. ‘You alright,’ he asked.
I told him I was fine. I’d been thinking about the fact that Gee’s body wasn’t there, with all the others, and if that would have really mattered to him. I had no idea if he’d been religious, or if he’d believed in an afterlife of some sort. And not the afterlife that was trying to get to us from the other side of the fence.
Through the crowds, I could see four people leave the edge of the spectators. They each walked up to a pyre, carrying flaming torches. The one closest to us slowly walked around his, occasionally placing the torch on the scraps of wood used to construct it.
There was a very ceremonial feeling to the whole thing.
The flames spread quickly, and all four pyres were soon ablaze. The torch carriers then stepped back into the crowds. Nobody spoke, there were no prayers, nothing at all.
It was actually very peaceful.
‘The Lord has forsaken these fallen few,’ a man’s voice called out, shattering the peace.
‘Somebody shut that fucker up,’ another voice shouted.
A murmur started to ripple through the many spectators.
‘You had no right to do this,’ a man screamed. ‘You had no–.’
There was a loud thud, the sound of a fist connecting with a face.
‘Kill the fucker,’ a woman’s voice said.
The murmuring amongst the crowd increased, and people started to turn and move towards us.
Jack quickly spun around to face us. ‘Right, let’s get out of here.’
We started to move with the crowds, but Ali was slow. Pete and Theo stood on either side of her. The rest of us formed a line behind, and tried to hold back the crowds.
It wasn’t working.
‘Pete, Theo,’ I said. ‘Grab Ali under the arms. You’re carrying her out of here.’
They lifted her off the ground and we immediately doubled our speed.
‘Pub?’ Jack asked me.
‘Pub,’ I agreed.
Once we were safely back in Pea’s Place, all sat around two tables pushed together, I turned to Jack. ‘If you forget about the religious freaks, and almost getting crushed, I’d say that was a perfect funeral.’
The bouncers on the door had been two American guys that I hadn’t seen before. Once we explained who we were, and after one of them had gone inside to check, we were allowed to go in. Charles had very kindly reserved a few tables for us. He told us Matis had been very insistent on him making sure the friends of Gintaras were well taken care of.